


Taffy Stuck and Tongue Tied

by kaguya_yoru



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, M/M, Past Underage Sex, Sex Tapes, experienced!Yuri, virgin!Otabek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-28 06:43:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18751108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaguya_yoru/pseuds/kaguya_yoru
Summary: Otabek’s world ground to a halt when Yuri Plisetsky muttered, “Fuck it,” straddled his lap, and planted a kiss on his lips.





	Taffy Stuck and Tongue Tied

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story in one sitting over a year ago during the 2018 Winter Olympics and then let it languish in my WIP folder until I stumbled across it today.
> 
> Inspiration for this story came from [Yuri's outfit for the Tokyo Girls Collection collaboration](https://otakumode.com/news/59d1eb8f9918a31a71ea492a/Yuri!!!-on-Ice-Collabs-in-Style-With-Sanrio-and-Fashion-Event-Tokyo-Girls-Collection!) and an interview with Mikaela Shiffrin during the Olympics, in which she demonstrated that she had no idea what "Netflix and chill" really means.
> 
> Yuri talks about past sex encounters but sex does not occur in this story.

Otabek’s world ground to a halt when Yuri Plisetsky muttered, “Fuck it,” straddled his lap, and planted a kiss on his lips.

It wasn’t a bad kiss. In the nanosecond that Otabek actually allowed himself to enjoy it, he registered that Yuri’s lips were soft and yielding, not too wet and not too dry. But then, Otabek’s brain came back online and his hands rose up to grasp Yuri’s biceps, pushing him away until he was at arm’s length. He didn’t push too hard, not wanting to hurt him, so Yuri was still on his lap when he managed to cobble together enough words to speak.

“What are you doing?” Otabek demanded. His heart was beating a mile a minute, as if he’d just finished racing a marathon.

This was not how he imagined their first kiss.

Yuri’s brows drew together, expression puzzled. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Isn’t this why you came up here?”

“I thought we were going to watch a movie,” Otabek replied, wondering how exactly everything went off the rails, “and relax.”

Yuri’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “Wow,” he said. “That is so not what ‘Netflix and chill’ means.”

Suddenly, a lot of things made a lot more sense. “Is that why you’re dressed like that?” Otabek asked, indicating with his chin Yuri’s attire, or rather, lack of.

Yuri’s mouth curved upwards in amusement. “Do you think I normally wear leopard print briefs and nothing else?”

Otabek firmly kept his eyes on Yuri’s face. Now that he was looking more closely, he could see that Yuri was wearing eyeliner, the edges smudged, to make his already gorgeous green eyes seem even bigger. “It’s your hotel room,” he said. “I didn’t want to presume.”

Yuri’s smile turned sultry, his eyes lidded. “Presume away,” he practically purred.

Okay, he needed to regain control of this situation.

“Yuri,” Otabek began firmly, “you’re sixteen.”

“Mmm,” Yuri licked his lips in what Otabek figured was meant to be a seductive manner, “like the idea of jailbait, do you?”

Otabek gritted his teeth, inwardly cringing at the very notion, and pressed on. “I mean, you’re young,” he said. “There’s no need to rush these kinds of things.”

“You’re right.” Yuri ducked his head and looked at him through the strands of his golden hair, hanging free and loose around his head. “We can take our time. We have _all night_.” He drew out the sounds of the last two words as if they were a sinful, delicious treat.

“We’ve only known each other a few months,” Otabek continued doggedly, silently willing Yuri to understand. “Isn’t this all a little fast?”

Yuri traced some aimless design with a finger on Otabek’s jean-covered thigh. Even through the thick denim, his skin felt hypersensitive to Yuri’s touch. “You said we met five years ago,” he replied in a flirtatious tone. “I’m willing to count it if you are.”

“I thought we agreed to be friends?” Otabek asked in a last ditch effort to get his point across subtly.

For some reason, that statement only made Yuri’s smile widen. He leaned in until his lips were at Otabek’s ear, the heat of Yuri warming his skin, and the jasmine scent of him surrounding Otabek like a cloud. “That speech would have been more believable,” Yuri whispered, the soft puff of his breath against Otabek’s ear sending a shiver down his spine, “if your rock hard cock hadn’t been poking into my thigh.”

He’d in fact been staunchly trying to ignore the way his body had responded to Yuri’s nearness. It wasn’t like he couldn’t appreciate Yuri’s muscular, lithe body or the way those leopard print briefs did nothing to hide his interest. But this wasn’t what he wanted.

“Yuri.” Otabek took a deep breath, mustered up his courage, and said, “I don’t want to have sex with you.”

Yuri jerked backwards, a frown on his face. The motion caused him to rest more heavily on Otabek’s erection and he clenched his jaw, trying very hard not to move otherwise.

“I don’t understand,” Yuri said, brows drawn together. “You obviously want me.”

“I don’t want to have sex with you.” It was the only phrase he had left to him now. All semblance of higher levels of thought had been wiped away by the curve of Yuri’s ass resting on his cock.

Yuri’s frown deepened and he stared hard at Otabek, obviously trying to figure him out. Otabek wanted him to figure it out quicker because the pressure in his jeans was becoming very uncomfortable. Then Yuri’s expression cleared all at once and Otabek felt a surge of hope.

“Oh, this is because of stupid Victor, isn’t it?”

“Victor?” Otabek asked, honestly confused.

“ _Agape_.” Yuri tapped a finger to his lips in a gesture that was very reminiscent of Victor Nikiforov. As Otabek valued his kidneys, he had no intention of telling Yuri that. “You know, after I moved up to the Seniors, I wondered why I wasn’t getting as many offers as I usually do. People must be getting confused by that unconditional love crap.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Otabek.” Yuri’s mouth curved back into that sultry smile and he wrapped his arms around Otabek’s neck. He’d slipped back into the expression too easily, as if it was something he’d practiced a lot. “I’m not a virgin.”

There was nothing for it. Clearly, the direct approach was the better way to go.

“Well, I am.”

That seemed to finally get through to Yuri. His eyes widened and he practically threw himself off Otabek’s lap. “Shit,” Yuri said, panic laced through his voice. “Shit, shit, shit!” He scrambled off the bed, grabbing some clothes that had been thrown into a corner and rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Otabek let out the first full breath he’d taken since stepping into Yuri’s hotel room and wondered what the hell he should do now. Did Yuri want him to go? As uncomfortable as the last few minutes were, he didn’t actually want to leave. He’d been looking forward to seeing Yuri again. Even though they had both been busy with their own competitions, they’d kept in touch through texts and Instagram. The World Figure Skating Championships had been the first event they’d shared after the Grand Prix FInal, where Yuri had narrowly beat Katsuki for gold.

Yuri had easily taken gold at this event as well, the clear favorite to win this season. Otabek hadn’t medaled but he’d ended up with a fairly decent ranking after the free skate, enough to feel pleased with his performance. When he’d gotten Yuri’s text after the post interviews, he’d been happy by the thought of spending the evening together and taking advantage of the opportunity to talk to each other in person. He had no idea that Yuri had had something else in mind entirely.

The arousal that had been stirred within him had dissipated by the time the door to the bathroom opened and Yuri reappeared, dressed in a T-shirt and leggings. His eyes narrowed into a glare when he saw Otabek still lying on the bed.

“You’re still here?” Yuri demanded more than asked.

Otabek’s stomach sank. “I can go,” he said stiffly, moving to swing his legs off the comforter.

“No, don’t!”

Yuri‘s face flushed a truly unattractive bright red, obviously not intending the outburst. Crossing his arms with a scowl, he quickly spat, “I mean, go if you want to.”

Otabek remained sitting, hands grasping the edge of the bed, unsure of what to do next. Yuri didn’t move from the bathroom doorway. They stared at each other for several moments.

Finally, Yuri bit his lip. “Unless you don’t want to?” he asked in a halting voice, expression still torn between anger and embarrassment.

“I don’t want to,” Otabek quickly agreed.

Relief quickly flashed across Yuri’s face before he schooled his expression back into a scowl. “Fine. Okay, then.” He stalked back over to the bed and settled onto it beside Otabek, seemingly put out by the whole situation. This time, Otabek noticed, Yuri took care to leave some distance between them. “I guess we really can watch Netflix.”

Otabek nodded, hoping to dispel the uncomfortable pall that lay over the room as quickly as possible. “Okay.”

Yuri leaned forward to drag his laptop closer and resume the movie they’d watched for all of five minutes. Otabek tried to concentrate on the plot but he couldn’t help noticing that Yuri kept looking over at him every few minutes, worrying at his lower lip. The silence was thick between them and it seemed like there was no way they were going to be able to relax unless they got whatever was on Yuri’s mind out into the open.

Otabek sighed and reached forward, tapping the spacebar key to pause the movie. “What is it, Yuri?”

“You’re really hot!” The words burst out of Yuri and his face reddened again. “It’s just,” he said, picking at the hem of his T-shirt, “you ride a motorcycle and you wear leather and you’re a DJ and _how are you not getting ass left and right?_ ”

“People have offered,” Otabek said slowly. He tried to figure out how to describe how he felt when faced with those empty propositions, carnal passion without emotion but, in the end, couldn’t find the words. “I turned them down.”

“Yeah,” Yuri said, letting out a short, humorless laugh, fingers still picking at a loose thread on his T-shirt, “I noticed.”

Otabek turned to face Yuri fully. He wanted Yuri to understand. He wanted Yuri to understand _him_. Maybe trying a different tack would work. “Why do you have sex?”

Yuri shrugged his shoulders. “Because it feels good?” 

Otabek struggled to keep the dismay off his face. There were lots of things that felt good. Shouldn’t sex mean something more than that? “That’s the only reason?”

Yuri frowned and looked down at his hands. He was silent for a while, obviously putting more thought into his response than before. “All I do is skate,” he said finally. “I love it but it’s a constant race to push yourself because you never know when someone else will get better than you or an injury will end it all. When I have sex, I don’t have to think about any of that. My mind is completely blank.”

“That sounds awful.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Otabek knew that they were the wrong thing to say.

Yuri’s head snapped up, fury etched into every line of his face. “Fuck. You.” He pointed a finger towards the hotel door. “Get the fuck out of my room!”

“Wait, I didn’t mean - ” Otabek stumbled over the words, trying desperately to explain. He hadn’t meant to insult Yuri or make him feel bad.

“Get out!” Yuri screeched. Otabek was horrified to see moisture gathering in Yuri’s brilliant green eyes. “I said, get out!”

There was obviously no way that Yuri would listen to anything he had to say. Otabek left. The click of the hotel door shutting behind him sounded as loud as a gunshot in the quiet corridor.

He pulled out his phone, determined to make it up to Yuri.

_**Yuri** : Netflix and chill? ;)_  
_**Otabek** : Sounds great_  
_**Yuri** : Room 1003_

It took Otabek several minutes to figure out what to say. In the end, he wasn’t happy with the final result but he was afraid that if he took too long to apologize, it would make things even worse. 

_**Otabek** : I’m sorry, Yuri. I was trying to say that when I have sex, I don’t want my mind to be blank. I want to be thinking about the person I’m with and the way they make me feel. I hope that they’ll be thinking the same way._

After ten minutes with no response, Otabek reluctantly returned to his room.

Hours later, long after he should have been asleep, Otabek gave up on the idea of Yuri texting him back that night. He turned off his light, hoping that things would be better between them in the morning.

But no matter how many times he checked his phone, he never received a response.

*

** Hero of Kazakhstan Sex Tape Video Leaked Online! **

**Sex tape shows that the Hero of Kazakhstan _REALLY_ lives up to his name!**

**_WATCH: Hero of Kazakhstan sex tape! Exclusive interview with girlfriend HERE_ **

Otabek’s hand gripped the sides of his cell phone so hard that he worried he would crack the case. “What have you done?” he asked as soon as the video call connected, voice shaking in his anger.

His girlfriend - well, definitely ex-girlfriend by the end of this conversation - immediately launched into a speech, as if she’d been waiting for his phone call.

“I didn’t plan it, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she said. Was that genuine regret on her face or was he just imagining it? “I really just wanted a memento of our time together. But then I showed it to my friend and she kept telling me how much money I could get for it - ”

“Ayaulym!” Otabek shouted. She visibly jumped and her eyes widened. They had been dating a little over a year and in all that time, Otabek had never raised his voice. “Ayaulym, how could you do that to me? To us?”

To his incredulity, Ayaulym laughed. “Us? What us?” She shook her head. “Your whole life is figure skating. When did you ever have time for us?”

Otabek couldn’t believe his ears. “I called and texted you whenever I could. I flew you out to competitions - ”

“Yeah, where I went sightseeing _alone_ because you were either practicing, competing, or sleeping.”

“Figure skating is not easy for me,” Otabek gritted out. “I have to practice two, three times as hard as everyone else to compete in the top competitions.”

“And where has that gotten you?” Ayaulym shot back, eyes narrowed. “When I thought you were a DJ, you seemed cool. Having to tell people that I’m dating a figure skater is an absolute nightmare. The free travel was fun at first but then you wouldn’t let me bring any of my friends.” She held up a hand before he could reply, clearly anticipating his response. “I know, you can’t afford it. That’s another thing. You don’t even make any decent money to make up for the teasing I get for dating you. I thought athletes got big-time sponsorships or something.”

Otabek looked at her for a long time. He didn’t bother to explain that all of his sponsorship money went into his training, that the money he’d used to fly her out to competitions had left him in greater debt than before. He thought of the way he’d set alarms at odd hours while he was traveling alone so that he could still wish her good morning and good night. He thought of all of the romantic dinners he’d cooked for her at home so that he could save money and stick to his meal plan. He’d thought her smiles meant that she was appreciative of his efforts, that their frequent lovemaking, even when he'd been exhausted from practice or competition, had been her way of expressing her love.

He’d been awestruck by Ayaulym’s beauty but right now she was the ugliest thing he’d ever seen.

“Did you ever love me?”

“Really, Otabek?” Ayaulym looked at him with obvious pity. “The sex was good. But it’s over.”

The cell phone screen went dark.

Otabek’s mind went just as blank. He didn’t understand what had just happened, how it could have happened. Hands shaking, he punched in another number. “Coach,” he said when the other line picked up, “I need to change my programs for this season.”

*

The knock on the door was a surprise. What was waiting on the other side was an even bigger one.

“Congratulations on your silver.”

Otabek’s heart literally skipped a beat, something he’d never imagined happening in real life. He’d thought he’d heard a familiar ‘Davai!’ during the lull before his free skate but had chalked it up to his imagination. After all, he was at the Rostelecom Cup and plenty of people had been shouting it all competition. The last thing he expected was for Yuri Plisetsky to show up at his hotel door.

He was taller than the last time they’d spoken a year and a half ago, towering over Otabek by a few inches. His blond hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, a few strands falling into his face. The red shirt with a white tiger screen printed on it was definitely Yuri’s style but the fact that the collar and hem were artfully torn and that it was paired with ripped black jeans and a studded black leather jacket was new.

Otabek tightened his hand on the doorknob as his eyes landed on the thin black collar around Yuri’s neck. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Come on,” Yuri’s tone brooked no argument. “Let’s get out of here.” He walked a couple of steps towards the elevator and then turned around when Otabek didn’t move, raising one perfectly arched eyebrow. “Are you coming or not?”

Otabek grabbed his own black leather jacket and fell into place beside Yuri, letting the hotel room door swing shut behind him. Neither of them said a word as they took the elevator down to the lobby.

Yuri wasn't competing in this event. He’d been assigned to Skate Canada and Internationaux de France for the Grand Prix series. His home rink was in St. Petersburg, not Moscow. There was only one reason he could think of that would explain Yuri taking time off in the middle of the season.

“Is your grandfather okay?” Otabek asked quietly as they made their way through the lobby. 

Yuri shot him an unreadable look. “He’s fine,” he replied shortly as they passed through the double doors that led outside.

Otabek opened his mouth to ask where they were going but then he saw what was waiting for them, parked a little haphazardly at the curb. “When did you get a motorcycle?”

“Didn’t,” Yuri said, handing one of the two helmets over to Otabek. “This one’s rented.”

“Okay.” Otabek put the helmet on and waited until Yuri was settled before throwing his own leg over the seat. The motorcycle’s engine roared to life underneath them and man, had he missed that rumble between his legs. “When did you get a motorcycle license?” he yelled over the sound.

“Didn’t,” Yuri yelled back and gunned the engine.

The next fifteen minutes were the most harrowing of Otabek’s life.

When they skidded to a stop, Otabek immediately ripped off his helmet and stumbled as far away from the motorcycle as possible. He could actually feel how wide his eyes were and he was physically shaking. “Yuri,” he said, trying and failing to keep his voice even, “who taught you how to drive?”

They hadn’t gone far from the hotel, just to a local park, but Otabek had spent the entire ride with his heart in his throat. Yuri’s green eyes glittered in the night. For a split second, Otabek was reminded of a cat caught hunting in the dark. “Do you really want to know?” Yuri asked, pulling off his own helmet.

There was something in Yuri’s eyes that made him think that he really, really didn’t. Still, he asked, “Yeah, who?”

“Older guy,” Yuri said. His voice had so little emotion he could have been speaking about the weather. “We worked out a deal. He’d give me a ride on his motorcycle and I’d give him a ride on his dick.”

Otabek took a steadying breath against Yuri’s stark words but said nothing in response. The thought of Yuri trading sex for favors like that made him indescribably sad but it wasn’t for him to have an opinion about Yuri’s sex life. The last time he had, he’d lost Yuri’s friendship.

It seemed that he couldn’t keep his emotions off his face, however, because Yuri’s upper lip curled. “Oh, did I ruin your delicate sensibilities?” he sneered. “I’m surprised you have any left after having the gall to make a _sex tape_.”

The words hovered in the air between them, accusatory and heated. He stared at Yuri, at the visible evidence of his anger in his balled fists and heaving chest. Otabek had always had trouble expressing his own emotions but Yuri never held anything back. It was what made him so compelling on the ice, the way he made people notice him whether they wanted to or not.

Otabek hadn’t spoken to anybody about the tape. He’d let his coach release a statement, left the legal issues all up to the lawyers, and had tried to channel every feeling that had dared to bubble up into his skating. The results had gotten him a bronze and now a silver at his qualifying events for the Grand Prix Final but he still felt those emotions locked inside of him, festering as the months passed. The pain and hurt and and anger and sense of loss was slowly killing him and no matter how much he skated, the feelings weren’t going away.

“She said she’d wanted a memory of that night.”

The words popped out before he realized that he’d made the decision to speak. They had been locked away inside of Otabek for so long that the relief of saying them out loud was almost physically painful. Yuri didn't say anything but Otabek could feel the tension in the air shift, the silence between them less charged and more cautious.

“She set up the video camera on her phone. She told me how happy I’d made her and I - ” Otabek had to take another breath before he could go on. “I told her that I loved her for the first time.”

“Oh my god.” Yuri looked stricken, the color leaching out of his already pale face. “Otabek - ”

He kept speaking, not wanting to be rude but needing to get it all out now that he’d started. “She put the phone down on the nightstand, on a charging stand that she used to keep at my place. I didn’t know she hadn’t turned off the camera.”

Otabek swallowed heavily and forced the final words out. “It was our anniversary.”

In the next instant, Otabek found his arms full, Yuri’s thin but muscular arms gripping him tight. Otabek leaned into the comfort, wrapping his own arms around Yuri’s waist. He breathed in deep of the familiar smell of jasmine, now mixed with worn leather.

“I’ll kill her,” Yuri hissed into his ear. “I’ll rip her throat out for what she did to you.”

The thought made Otabek smile but not because he wished any harm to come to Ayaulym. “Now you really do sound like the Ice Tiger of Russia,” he murmured back.

Yuri’s body shook with quiet laughter, tinged with sadness, and Otabek let himself join in. He’d spent all season feeling like there was a rock in his chest where his heart used to be. After talking about it, there was an ache now that, to be honest, didn’t feel much better. It did feel cleaner somehow, as if he’d finally lanced the festering wound. Still -

Otabek pulled back. Yuri wouldn’t let go of him so he only leaned back far enough so that he could see Yuri’s face. “Did you really think I would make a sex tape?”

Yuri shrugged, his gaze suddenly dropping to the ground. “We hadn’t spoken in over a year,” he said after a short silence. “I really didn’t know what to think. Maybe you’d changed. I did.”

“You did?”

Yuri finally let go of him. Taking a step away, he crossed his arms. “I couldn’t stop thinking about that text message you sent me,” he said, avoiding Otabek’s gaze. “I hooked up with the guy with the motorcycle but I still couldn't get it out of my head. So I decided to try it. The next time we had sex, I thought about him and the way he made me feel.”

His mouth twisted. “Ended up bawling my eyes out while he was balls deep in me.”

“Shit,” Otabek said, heart breaking at that image. He had an urge to pull Yuri into his arms again but he wasn’t sure how Yuri would react so he kept his distance. “I’m so sorry, Yuri.”

“Don’t be.” Yuri looked up towards the sky. There was a waxing moon just visible through the trees. Yuri’s hair and skin glowed in the moonlight; contrasted against his dark clothes, it made him look like an avenging angel, heaven sent. Otabek's breath caught, not for the first time, at the beauty of Yuri, made all the more exquisite by the unthinking ethereal grace that embodied his every movement.

“He was a nice guy actually. Kept giving me lessons for free. Told me that the guy I was crying over better be worth it.” Yuri looked over at him, gaze steady and unwavering. The loose strands of his hair fluttered in the fitful breeze.

“I told him he was.”

Despite the lingering hurt and sadness from thinking about Ayaulym’s betrayal, Otabek could feel a spark of hope. Hope that if they couldn’t salvage the budding friendship that began at the Grand Prix Final, together they could now forge something new.

He tried to think of something to say in response but, before he could, Yuri’s mouth curved and a mischievous glint lit his eye. When he next spoke, his voice was gruff, in an obvious and terrible imitation of Otabek. “So are we going to be friends or not?”

Happiness bubbled up inside Otabek, washing away the hurt and sadness. It wasn’t gone completely but after months of pain, he was ready for a fresh start. He nodded, unable to keep a small smile from coming to his lips. “Friends.”

“Good.” Yuri turned to face him completely, a devilish smirk on his face. “Well, as your friend, I have to tell you that you definitely have some moves.”

There was no mistaking what he was referring to. Otabek dearly hoped that the park was dark enough to hide his blush because his face suddenly felt like it was on fire. “You watched it?”

“Mmhmm.” Yuri flashed a grin at him. “I’m not the only one who thought so. My favorite comment was, ‘It seems the dark horse is hung like one. I wish I could take that for a ride.’”

Otabek turned away abruptly as mortification swept through him, staring unseeing at a nearby park bench. Even if he wasn’t a virgin anymore, he still didn’t want to discuss these things. And he certainly hadn’t wanted the world to see him that way. Something like that was supposed to be intimate. Private.

“Hey.” Yuri’s voice was soft and concerned. There was a light touch on Otabek’s arm. “I’m sorry.”

Otabek concentrated on taking in deep breaths and calming his suddenly racing heart. Telling Yuri about the night of Ayaulym’s betrayal had been difficult enough. He knew that Yuri was trying to keep the mood light but joking about it was just too much to handle right now. He still felt raw and vulnerable from the memory of that violation and Yuri’s words had unintentionally scraped over those wounds.

After several minutes, he felt more centered and in control but hesitated to look in Yuri’s direction. There was no question that he wanted Yuri in his life. Yuri was both inspiration and a reflection of his own determined motivation to excel. But he was also a whirlwind, an unstoppable force of nature. He’d always moved so quickly - in ballet, in figure skating, and in sex - leaving Otabek scrambling to catch up.

If Otabek was being completely truthful with himself, he couldn’t deny that that little spark of hope was not only for resuming their friendship but also that over time, if Yuri wanted to, they would progress to something more. Would Yuri would be willing or able to slow down their relationship to Otabek’s speed?

When he mustered the courage to look at him, Yuri was worrying his bottom lip. “Wow, you really haven’t changed, have you? I’m sorry. That sounded different in my head. I was trying to be funny and - ”

The words came out of Yuri so quickly that Otabek was slightly stunned. He’d never heard Yuri sound that nervous before.

Yuri stopped and shook his head slightly, a grimace on his face, before taking in a deep breath. When he next spoke, it was slowly and deliberately. “I want to be friends with you, Otabek. We don’t have to rush _anything_. We can just see what happens.”

Otabek thought about this proposition: the earnestness of Yuri’s voice, the hope in his green eyes, the nervousness betrayed by his bitten bottom lip.

He reached forward and laced his fingers through Yuri’s. Yuri startled, eyes wide as he stared down at their intertwined hands.

Otabek gave him a small smile. “Not rushing sounds good,” he said, heart lightening when Yuri smiled back.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback and comments are appreciated. You can also find me on [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/kaguya_yoru) and [this hellsite](https://kaguya-yoru.tumblr.com/).


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